The Pentecostal Gender Paradox: Pentecostalism and Intimate Partner Violence in Ghana

Abstract

Pentecostalism is large, influential, and growing quickly in Ghana. This growth has been argued to benefit women due to the religion’s teachings on individualism and use of female leaders. However, the religion’s focus on female submissiveness may also present a challenge to women. Whilst this theoretical paradox has been largely untested, Gundersen (Gundersen, S (2018). Will god make me rich? An investigation into the relationship between membership in Charismatic churches, wealth, and women’s empowerment in Ghana. Religions, 9(6), 195) finds that women who identify as Pentecostal exhibit less decision-making power than other Christians when it comes to big household purchases and their own health care. Using the 2008 and 2014 Demographic Health Surveys, this study examines the relationship between Pentecostalism and intimate partner violence in Ghana. Women who identify as Pentecostal are more likely to have experienced physical violence than other women, but this effect may disappear for women in the highest wealth quintiles. Higher wealth Pentecostal women are also less likely to believe a husband is justified in hitting his wife. Thus, it seems wealth may have a protective effect for Pentecostal women in Ghana.